SKT hacking reported to Chey Taewon on the 19th
Received instructions to "respond thoroughly"
Amid the recent leak of USIM information at SK Telecom, it has been confirmed that Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, and Choi Chang-won, Chairman of the SK SUPEX Council, are continuing to use their existing USIM cards without replacement.
Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group (Chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry) is giving a lecture at the inauguration ceremony of the National Assembly Future Industry Forum held at Sarangjae, the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 22nd. Photo by Kim Hyunmin
On April 30, Yoo Sangyoung, CEO of SK Telecom, attended a hearing of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee and stated, "Chairman Chey and Chairman Choi are using our 'USIM Protection Service' without replacing their USIM cards." He added, "We will also investigate and announce the status for other executives up to the vice president level." This was in response to a request for information from Minhee Choi, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea.
The USIM Protection Service is designed to prevent the activation of new mobile phones using leaked USIM information. Since April 22, immediately after the announcement of the USIM information leak, SK Telecom has been promoting this service as a safety measure, explaining that it effectively provides the same level of security as replacing the USIM card.
In addition, CEO Yoo stated, "I reported the hacking incident to Chairman Chey on April 19 and received instructions to respond thoroughly." SK Telecom first detected a system anomaly at 6:09 p.m. on April 18 and discovered malicious code implanted on the server at 11:20 p.m. that same day. On April 19 at 11:40 p.m., the company identified signs that some USIM information had been leaked. The incident was reported to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) on April 20 in the afternoon.
Yoo Sangyoung, CEO of SK Telecom, is attending the hearing on broadcasting and telecommunications held by the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee on the 30th. Photo by Kim Hyunmin
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